Archive November 3, 2025

Will a computer game help women’s football grow even more? Women’s football has already made some significant strides in recent years.

The most recent addition to the well-known Football Manager series, FM26, will be released this week, increasing the visibility of the female game and bringing up some undiscovered female talent.

19 million people have watched the previous edition of FM, which features you taking on the shoes of a manager, choosing a team, and trying to win.

The series’ roots date back more than 30 years to Championship Manager in 1992, but for the first time, FM26 allows fans to manage both women’s and men’s teams.

With 14 playable leagues spread out over 11 countries and three continents, it has a database of more than 36, 000 female players and another 5, 000 staff members.

The company behind it, Interactive sports, already share their extensive data on more than 700,000 male players with real-life clubs who have used it as a scouting tool for more than a decade.

“There were a lot of challenges around adding the women’s game to FM,” said Miles Jacobson, studio director of Interactive sports.

We’ve been working on scouting for the past 30+ years in men’s football, but we needed to start fresh on the women’s side to make sure there were experts in women’s football.

In the end, a large number of women’s football players assisted us because they wanted to make sure that women’s football was represented properly.

“Some pieces of information were difficult to find because, while data is prevalent in men’s football, it is not the same in women’s football, where it is frequently incomplete or missing.”

“Putting it all together was undoubtedly a challenge, but one that we took on,” said one participant, “we hope what we’ve created is useful in both women’s football and the game as well.”

The video game takes pride in having depth, realism, and authenticity, and new motion-capture sequences were created for FM26 to represent female players in the 3D match simulations.

Out of 20, there are a number of individual attributes that each person on the database has, ranging from physical statistics like pace, agility, and acceleration to abilities like passing ability and dribbling. It also exhibits traits like courage and composure.

We had a heated discussion about how to handle the disparities between male and female players in the stats, Jacobson continued.

We thought it unfair that the game’s fastest woman wouldn’t have a 20 rating for pace or acceleration, despite the fact that “the fastest woman in the world, as we know from world records, is slightly slower than the fastest man.”

We kept it a secret, they said. When it comes to playing characteristics, we contrast men with women and men with women. There is no difference between staff characteristics and “staff attributes.”

Mollie and Rosie Kmita, two former professional players, both participated in the game’s motion capture process, and Mollie believes being a part of the women’s team will inspire new players and educate the older ones.

Because it wasn’t for us to play football, she said, “I wouldn’t have imagined playing it growing up.”

We’ll see the effects of normalizing women’s football in the game, the author says.

The amount of information and knowledge a woman’s football player will gain from managing a women’s team is exciting for someone who has never before been interested in women’s football.

Women’s football has already taken some huge steps in recent years, but will a computer game help it grow even more?

This week’s launch of FM26, the latest edition of the popular Football Manager series, will enhance visibility of the women’s game and may also help unearth some unheralded female talents too.

The previous edition of FM – which sees you step into the shoes of a manager, pick a team, and try to lead them to victory – was released in 2024 and has been played by 19 million people.

The series’ origins go back more than 30 years to 1992’s Championship Manager but, for the first time, FM26 allows fans to manage women’s teams as well as men’s.

It features a database of more than 36,000 female players and another 5,000 staff, with 14 playable leagues across 11 nations and three continents.

The company behind it, Sports Interactive, already share their extensive data on more than 700,000 male players with real-life clubs who have used it as a scouting tool for more than a decade.

“There were a lot of challenges around adding the women’s game to FM,” said Miles Jacobson, studio director of Sports Interactive.

“We’ve had our scouting set-up for 30-plus years in men’s football but we had to start from scratch on the women’s side, and we wanted to ensure that there were women’s football experts involved.

“In the end, an army of people from the women’s game helped us, who wanted us to ensure that women’s football was properly represented.

“It was hard to find certain bits of information because although data is prevalent in men’s football, it is not the same in the women’s game, where it is often inaccurate or missing altogether.

“Putting it all together was certainly a challenge, but it was one that we took on and hope what we’ve produced is not just of use in the game but is actually of use in women’s football as well.

The game prides itself on its depth, realism and authenticity and new motion-capture sequences were recorded for FM26 to represent female players in the 3D match simulations.

Everyone on the database has a set of individual attributes marked out of 20, ranging from physical statistics such as pace, agility and acceleration to skills like passing ability and dribbling. It also reflects characteristics like bravery and composure.

“We had a big debate that went on for many months about how to deal with the differences between male and female players in the stats,” Jacobson added.

“The fastest woman in the world, as we know from world records, is slightly slower than the fastest man, but we thought it was unfair that the fastest woman in the game wouldn’t have a 20 rating for pace or acceleration.

“So we kept it separate. We compare women with women and men with men when it comes to playing attributes. When it comes to staff attributes, there isn’t a difference.”

Former professional players, twin sisters Mollie and Rosie Kmita, were both involved in the motion capture process for the game, and Mollie feels being able to manage a women’s team will engage new gamers and educate existing ones.

“Growing up, I would never have imagined playing Football Manager because it wasn’t a space for us,” she said.

“Normalising women’s football in the game is exciting and we’ll see the repercussions of that.

“For someone who’s never been interested in women’s football before and decides to manage a women’s team, the amount of information and knowledge they will learn about players, teams and leagues is exciting.

Will a computer game help women’s football grow even more? Women’s football has already made some significant strides in recent years.

The most recent addition to the well-known Football Manager series, FM26, will be released this week, increasing the visibility of the female game and bringing up some undiscovered female talent.

19 million people have watched the previous edition of FM, which features you taking on the shoes of a manager, choosing a team, and trying to win.

The series’ roots date back more than 30 years to Championship Manager in 1992, but for the first time, FM26 allows fans to manage both women’s and men’s teams.

With 14 playable leagues spread out over 11 countries and three continents, it has a database of more than 36, 000 female players and another 5, 000 staff members.

The company behind it, Interactive sports, already share their extensive data on more than 700,000 male players with real-life clubs who have used it as a scouting tool for more than a decade.

“There were a lot of challenges around adding the women’s game to FM,” said Miles Jacobson, studio director of Interactive sports.

We’ve been working on scouting for the past 30+ years in men’s football, but we needed to start fresh on the women’s side to make sure there were experts in women’s football.

In the end, a large number of women’s football players assisted us because they wanted to make sure that women’s football was represented properly.

“Some pieces of information were difficult to find because, while data is prevalent in men’s football, it is not the same in women’s football, where it is frequently incomplete or missing.”

“Putting it all together was undoubtedly a challenge, but one that we took on,” said one participant, “we hope what we’ve created is useful in both women’s football and the game as well.”

The video game takes pride in having depth, realism, and authenticity, and new motion-capture sequences were created for FM26 to represent female players in the 3D match simulations.

Out of 20, there are a number of individual attributes that each person on the database has, ranging from physical statistics like pace, agility, and acceleration to abilities like passing ability and dribbling. It also exhibits traits like courage and composure.

We had a heated discussion about how to handle the disparities between male and female players in the stats, Jacobson continued.

We thought it unfair that the game’s fastest woman wouldn’t have a 20 rating for pace or acceleration, despite the fact that “the fastest woman in the world, as we know from world records, is slightly slower than the fastest man.”

We kept it a secret, they said. When it comes to playing characteristics, we contrast men with women and men with women. There is no difference between staff characteristics and “staff attributes.”

Mollie and Rosie Kmita, two former professional players, both participated in the game’s motion capture process, and Mollie believes being a part of the women’s team will inspire new players and educate the older ones.

Because it wasn’t for us to play football, she said, “I wouldn’t have imagined playing it growing up.”

We’ll see the effects of normalizing women’s football in the game, the author says.

The amount of information and knowledge a woman’s football player will gain from managing a women’s team is exciting for someone who has never before been interested in women’s football.